ZADF: Through Fire and Flames
by Hamsters4evr
Summary: Zim and Dib are forced to work together on a project. That coupled with a constant threat from an old 'aquantence' looming, they're going to have to work together, or risk everything they know being destroyed. NOT SLASH! REPEAT! NOT F***ING SLASH!
1. Middle of the Night

_Oh looky thar! A story! Lol_

_Okie dokie! SO! Here's the deal:_

_I wrote the first four chapters about a year ago. MY WRITING HAS GOTTEN A LOT BETTER SO BEAR WITH ME!_

_If I get a positive response, I'll update. If not…I dunno._

_Rated T for maybe some mild cursing and an awkward shower scene in chapter 2, but don't worry, no nudity._

_THIS IS NOT SLASH! THIS IS ZADF! F! NOT ROMANCE, FRIENDSHIP!_

_I WILL UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WRITE ZADR! _

_Slash….I have no problem with gays but Jhonen's stuff? No…just no…._

Chapter 1

Dib's feet were sore as he pounded down the sidewalk. It was dark and as big a hurry as he was in, he couldn't remember why he hadn't taken the 5 minutes it would have taken to grab a flashlight or even his bike. He was irritated with himself for following his first impulse as he took a left into the cul-de-sac a mile from his house. He skidded to a halt in front of the narrow blue house with the long lawn and conspicuous sign on the fence that said EARTH in all capitals. He ran up the walk and began banging on the door impatiently; not giving it a second thought that it was 2:00 in the morning. When no response came from inside, Dib yelled out loud,

"ZIM! Hey! ZIM! GIR! SOMEONE OPEN THE DO-"

"SHUT-UP! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT TIME IT IS?" A grumpy neighbor shouted, interrupting him. Dib decided not to respond. He pressed his ear to the door, listening for any indication that his nemesis was alive, which he might not have been, considering what he had just seen. After about 5 minutes he heard a familiar cry.

"WOOOOOOOO! " Coming from behind the door. Dib rushed to the window, "Gir! HEY! GIR! OPEN THE DOOR!" He yelled rapping his fist on the glass. He could see the small blue robot stop screaming and running in the middle of the living room. "Piggy?" He asked the empty darkness. "Is that you?" "No! GIR! The window! Look up!" Gir turned his blue eyes towards Dib. "Hey! It's Dib! Hi, Dib!" "Hi, Gir, open the door." Dib spoke slowly, as if explaining something to a small child. Gir hesitated "Tacos?" He asked randomly after a minute or two. "Fine! Fine, Gir, there are tacos outside! OPEN THE DOOR!" A stupid grin spread across Gir's face that almost looked demonic in the shadows. Dib suppressed a shudder. "YAY!" The robot shrieked as he ran to the door. "TACOS!" He yelled as he ran down the street. Dib watched the neighbor shout at Gir out his window again. Gir stopped screaming but ran silently with his arms in the air and his toung hanging out of his mouth. Dib shrugged and slipped inside.

Dib looked around. An eerie picture hung on the wall of a balding creepy monkey. He shivered. He wandered into the kitchen. "Zim?" He asked quietly. He looked around. "Why is there a toilet in the kitchen?" He wondered aloud. He walked over. He pushed down on the lever. There was a whoosh and a horribly strong wind tunnel began pulling Dib down towards the empty bowl. The hole at the bottom widened as he was sucked downwards headfirst. He zipped through the clear green plastic tubes, passing other networks of similar alien transport devices. He landed headfirst on a hard, metal floor. "Ow." He muttered, straightening his glasses on his nose. He could hear a metallic clicking from across the room. Dib's forehead had been scraped and he wiped the blood from his eyes. Zim was leaning over a computer with his PAK legs extended and was typing away furiously on a touch screen.

"GIR! I TOLD YOU TO STOP MESSING WITH THE ELEVATOR SYSTEM!" Barked Zim. "Pick somewhere to be upstairs or in the l-"Zim turned around. "DIB-STINK WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY BASE? IS THIS SOME PLOT TO FOIL ME AND MY AWESOMNESS ONCE AGAIN?" Zim pointed an accusing claw at Dib. "What? No! I-""SILENCE!" Zim screeched. "I saw something I think you should…" Zim pinned Dib to the floor with two PAK legs. "Why have you come then? OUT WITH IT!" He command "I was going to say…" Dib began. "Why? WHY?" "Would you SHUT UP?" Dib yelled. "Now listen! I was up on my roof when I heard this strange frequency. I looked up and I saw this star cruiser!" Zim arched an invisible eyebrow. "But the wired thing was, it looked like Tak's cruiser!" "IMPOSSIBLE! Tak's cruiser landed in your lawn! YOU LIE!" Zim squeezed Dib tighter to the ground with the PAK legs. "I know! I know!" But I could see her in the driver's seat! She must have built another one!" Dib stared up at the Irken with defiance. Zim hesitated before returning to the computer on the wall. Dib got up and followed him over to the screen. "What are you doing?" Dib asked without taking his eyes off the screen. Zim flicked an antenna irritably. His PAK legs returned inside the metal bulge. "I'm tracing the radar. If she really is here then her ship would give off an energy signature that I can…" He was interrupted by another whoosh from the tube leading into the lab. Gir stood in the middle of the floor, munching on a taco. Dib wondered casually where he had actually found the taco. Gir smiled and taco meat dripped onto the floor. "Ew." Dib scowled. "As long as you're here, you may as well do something useful, human." Zim said squinting at the meat on the floor. "Clean up the… Grease pork." Zim turned back to the screen. Dib smirked. "It's called _beef, _Zim." He said sarcastically. Zim scowled. "Like it matters." He growled quickly.

Meanwhile, Gir had finished the taco and was now rolling on the floor. Dib glanced around. "What am I meant to clean it with?" He asked. "I don't know." Said Zim irritably. "Your hands maybe?" Dib wrinkled his nose at the pile of beef. He scraped it into his hand. "Disposal's over there." Zim flicked an antenna toward a metal box under the counter. Dib pried open the lid and dropped the beef in. It immediately ignited into pink fire when it hit the bottom. Dib jumped back. He peeked inside again. Nothing was left of the meat. Not even cinders or ashes or anything. He heard Zim let out a snort of laughter behind him. He turned around. The Irken was watching him with the amusement of watching an infant discover how to use a new toy. Dib scowled but could feel his face turn hot with embarrassment. Gir was staring at something on the wall across the room laughing insanely at whatever it was. The radar on the screen beeped. Zim snapped his attention to the screen. Dib hurried over. Gir continued to laugh at the wall. "QUIET GIR!" Zim snapped. Gir glanced at his master, but continued to giggle randomly. "There! The energy signature!" Zim pointed a gloved finger at the flashing dot. "Tak is here! The human-stink wasn't lying!" Zim muttered to himself. "Hey!" Dib shouted, offended. Zim ignored him. "But she's avoiding the base. She must have some sort of horrible scheme she's plotting." Zim's gaze darted around the lab. "As much as I hate to admit it, I may need to contact you later." Zim said as he hurried across the room again. He dug through a drawer and returned to where Dib was standing by the computer. "Take this." He growled as he grabbed Dib by the wrist, attaching something on. "Hey! What-" Dib began. "This is a UVCD." Explained Zim. "A Universal Video Communicator Device." Dib stared at it. It was a pink-ish purple with a gray strap that smelled like old leather. There was a red button on the side and a green button on the front. "Um…" Dib was speechless. Suddenly Zim was right in his face. "This is Irken technology. Albeit a more simple piece then most.""Um…how does it work?" Dib asked. Zim smirked. "Easily. It beeps when I try to contact you. Push the green button to pick up, to contact me, push the red button." "That's it?" Dib arched an eyebrow. "All that you need to know." Zim turned away, fastening his own UVCD around his wrist. "What if I want to contact someone else?" Dib asked. "It doesn't work like that." Zim walked back to Dib. "They are programmed to each other alone." He grabbed Dib's UVCD and pulled something down out of the locking mechanism. He did the same with his own. Dib looked at the inside of his wrist. The lock was clear plastic. There was a square hole in the center of the lock where Zim had removed something. "Now it can't be removed unless I put the key back in." Zim said. Zim stared him in the eyes. His clear maroon ovals were filled with trust and worry. They were missing the usual spark of arrogance. "Okay, I should go." Murmured dib when Zim turned back to the computer. "I don't know where she is, but she's not here now. Go home, human." He flicked an antenna dismissively. Dib smirked as he stepped back in the tube. "'Bye, Zim." He muttered awkwardly as the wind tunnel started again.

_ALRIGHT! SO! I've already said I've gotten better at writing, but other then that, Are they out of Character? Is there some major flaw in the setting or story? What? TELL MEEE! Also, for obvious reasons, no A/N for the next three chapters cuz Im lazy!_

_Also also, where's my freakin' profile? I put it up, but it's not there! Noo!_

_Or is it my computer? If anyone else can see it, PLEASE let me know!_


	2. Taco Meat

Chapter 2

Taco Meat

Dib sat on the bench in front of the school with his fingers drumming impatiently on the wood. He looked around. Where was Zim? He had to tell him something. The bell rang and Dib groaned. He stood up and could see a short kid with green skin and black hair. He was running, not just because he was late, he looked panicked. "Zim! What-?" Dib began. Zim didn't hear him as he ran inside. "Okay then…" Murmured Dib as he followed

In class, Dib sat and watched the Irken across the room. He was picking at the UVCD with some sort of screwdriver. He wondered ow Zim had gotten the UVCD off his wrist, but decided he probably had the keys with him.

Ms. Bitters drifted into the class room "Something to share, Zim?" She asked menacingly, leaning over the desk. "No." Zim met her gaze with his hands folded on the desk. Ms. Bitters arched an eyebrow."Detention." She said, turning around. "ZIM TAKES NO DETENTION!" Dib clapped his hand over his face. Ms. Bitters turned around to face Zim again. "Zim, would you like to repeat that?" "ZIM. TAKES. NO. DETENTION.!" Yelled Zim, vaulting onto the desk to come face to face with his teacher. Dib tried to signal Zim to stop by drawing his finger across his throat. Zim, misunderstanding, started to do the same to Ms. Bitters. Dib sighed and shook his head. "Zim, you have detention for a week." Zim looked over at Dib questioningly. Dib shook his head exaggeratedly. Zim gave him a thumbs up. Dib closed his eyes and put his head in his hand again. He remembered why he didn't like having to work with Zim. This would be a long week.

After school, Dib was hanging from the bottom of the classroom window. He had been there for half an hour and after 5 minutes Gaz had walked home without him. Dib pulled himself up and rested his chin on the flaking paint of the window sill again. It took tremendous effort; he was failing gym, and his muscles ached from supporting his weight for over 30 minutes without a break. He could see Zim sitting in his desk. Dib noticed Zim still wasn't wearing the UVCD. Dib scowled, he hadn't had a chance to talk with Zim all day. Gaz had kept him from Zim at lunch and Ms. Bitters had kept Zim away from Dib the rest of the day. Dib could see Ms. Bitters say something from the window. Zim hastily snatched the UVCD and the tool from his desk and crammed them in his pocket as he ran out the door. Seconds later he hurled out the front door of the school. Dib dropped to the grass and ran after the invader.

"Zim! Wait up! I've found something import-umph!" Dib was cut off by Zim slapping a gloved hand over his mouth. "SILENCE DIB-WORM! Someone could be listening to us!" He snapped. "I also have Intel to exchange, but not here!" A sort of computer screen emerged from his PAK on a rod. "Oh _that's _inconspicuous." Muttered Dib. "GIR! Come get us!" He barked at the screen. Dib couldn't see Gir, but heard him shout "Yes, Master!" Dib figured he was he was in one of his rare temporary trance-like obedient states. All of a sudden, a green dog came rocketing towards them in mid-air. "He got here fast." Remarked Dib. Zim smirked and extended a PAK leg towards Dib. On an impulse he grabbed it as Gir shot between his master's legs and looped over behind him and Zim and Gir with a screaming Dib behind them took off towards the sky.

Before long they returned to Zim's base. Gir landed on the lawn. "That was fun! What now?" Without waiting for an answer, Gir ran inside. Zim followed. "Where'd Gir go?" Dib wondered aloud when they were in the kitchen. He was wondering aloud more than asking. "Hmm? Oh, Gir just goes where he likes. I've mostly learned to accept it." Zim answered with his head in the fridge. "Except when he's in the base. I don't mind in the house, but I can't STAND Gir on his Taco-pig-I don't know what else rampage downstairs." Zim emerged from the fridge. "Oh." Said Dib.

Zim walked out of the kitchen and hooked his head around the wall again. He was missing a contact lens. "Eat if you're hungry." He said. "But don't touch anything important!" He yelled before disappearing again. "Okay…" Mumbled Dib as he wandered over to the fridge. Inside he found half a taco, a few pieces of bruised fruit, and mounds and mounds of waffles. Dib picked up a well-beaten apple that was brown on one side. He tossed it in his hand and caught it again. He put it down again. He opened both crispers and the meat drawer. They were all filled with waffles.

He sat down at the table listening to Zim give Gir a scolding that didn't show sign of stopping. Dib sighed. He wondered if maybe he should organize the fridge or something, but decided against it, at risk of looking suspicious.

Zim reappeared in the kitchen without his disguise on. Dib climbed out of the chair and the section of floor where Zim and Dib stood sunk into the ground. "Take us to lab 9!" barked Zim. The elevator rushed downwards. When it jolted to a halt and the doors opened, Dib could see a wall of pure taco meat beyond. It wobbled and collapsed. The elevator was suddenly flooded with cold taco filling. "Ew." Dib was up to his waist in beef and Zim had pinned himself up against the back wall of the elevator, looking horrified. Dib remembered that Zim couldn't touch ground beef because of the grease. "Ugh. It's wet." Groaned Dib, picking up a little bit of cold taco filling then dropped it again. "Sh!" Zim hissed suddenly, antennae pricked up. Dib concentrated, there was a sort of almost dry sloshing noise? Dib couldn't tell how to describe it. Suddenly a clump of beef exploded from the pile. Dib tried to dodge it, but failed and the ball of beef hit him hard. "Ack!" Dib chocked out. "HI DIB!" Gir shouted, face inches from dibs as his Bright blue eyes popped out, sending meat flying everywhere. Dib heard Zim shout and dodge the cold, brown beef. Dib wrestled with the smiling robot. Suddenly Gir was yanked off Dib. Dib looked up to see Zim scowling at his defective sidekick. He had his PAK legs extended and he put the SIR unit on the ground. "GIR! Clean this up. Gir looked over his mess "Aww…do I hafta?" Gir whined. "Yes, Gir!" Gir stood up and ran, tunneling through the mountain of meat. The tunnel collapsed behind him. Zim sighed with one pink eye closed. He reached out a gloved hand to Dib. Dib grasped it and was yanked to his feet. Zim retracted his PAK legs. "Zim, you're steaming!" Zim touched the beef stuck on his chest subconsciously. "GAH!" He leaped backwards. "COMPUTER! Take us up to the house! NOW!" He barked. Dib flicked the beef off Zim's chest. His maroon shirt was still steaming.

Zim looked as though he were trying to hold back an ear-piercing scream of pain. The elevator submerged back in the kitchen. Zim hurried back out through the living room and into the back hall. Dib had never been this far into Zim's actual house. Zim led the way down the hall to a laundry room. It looked normal, concrete floor and walls, a washer and dryer at the end of the room. There was a laundry rack in the corner with an ironing board underneath it. Zim opened a cupboard in the wall. He took a bar of soap from the shelf and began scrubbing his chest. Dib glanced down at his own clothes, which was covered in taco meat and grease as well. Zim sighed in relief when the steam faded. He walked out of the room. Dib shrugged out of his trench coat and ground beef toppled out. Dib scooped it up in his hand and wrapped his coat around it in a bundle. He and Zim had a temporary truce. He wouldn't push it by leaving greasy taco filling on Zim's floor. Zim came back into the laundry room with two out fits identical to the one he was wearing. Minus of course, the beef grease.

He handed one of the outfits to Dib. "Wear this while your clothes get washed. You'll probably want to get cleaned up as well. There is a…washing room…" "Bathroom" Corrected Dib. Zim scowled. "And give me your UVCD, it can't get wet." Zim held out his hand. Dib stared at him. "You have the…what is it? Some sort of key?" Zim's eyes narrowed. He pulled a thin chain from his pocket. He handed Dib one of the clear plastic charms that hung from it. Dib took it and fit it in the hole on the inside of his wrist. The mechanism clicked open. Dib looked at it. Zim's outstretched fingers twitched. "A little impatient, are we Zim?" Dib taunted, laying the UVCD across the alien's gloved hand. Zim's antennae twitched. "Whatever there is a _bathroom_ down the hall." He said, turning back to the washing machine.

Dib closed the bathroom door. He looked around the cramped room. Other then the fact that the toilet had no visible water in it and that the floor tile was a repulsive highlighter yellow that clashed horribly with the pastel blue rubber ducky-patterned wall paper, it was a normal bathroom. Dib opened a cupboard where he found a stack of towels. He closed the toilet and placed the best looking towel on the lid; a balding dust-gray towel with an all but shredded edge. He stripped down and stepped into the shower tub. As he turned on the water, it occurred to him, why an alien who reacted to water like a corrosive acid have working plumbing? To keep up appearances? Dib decided not to think to long about that. Dib quickly wiped away the grease on his skin when the water started and watched in swirl down the drain. "Dib-thing?" Zim asked from the door. "It's really humid in here, Zim." Dib warned. He could hear Zim stop and think. "I'll trust you on that. Dib-worm." He muttered. "If we have to work together, I'd appreciate it if you didn't call me 'dib-worm' 'Pig-smelly' 'Dib-thing' or what ever else you call me!" Yelled Dib. Zim paused and Dib could picture him growling to himself. He smirked as he watched the last of the grease swirl down the drain. He shut off the shower and quickly wrapped the towel around himself. Zim opened the door. Mist swirled out into the hallway. "The moisture! IT BURNS!" Screeched Zim. Dib smirked at the alien rolling on the floor. "You should waited for the steam to clear." Dib was having a hard time holding back laughter. Zim stood up and shut the door, grumbling. "I told you it was moist, Zim. You should have listened to me." He taunted.

Dib wrung out his scythe hair into the sink with the towel. He pulled on Zim's clothes. Zim and Dib were about the same size, so the clothes should have fit pretty well, but they were strangely baggy. Dib wondered what to do with the beef in his coat. He dumped it out in the trash, hoping Gir would find it later and eat it or something. He walked out into the hall with his greasy clothes in a bundle. He followed Zim back to the laundry room. Neither said a word.


	3. Attack

Chapter 3

Attack

When Dib and Zim's clothes were being washed and the two sat in a lab in the basement, the silence was overwhelming. They both knew they should talk about Tak, each sharing the news he was desperate to say. They sat across from each other at a table. Dib lay back in his chair, leaning it back on two legs with his hands behind his head. The tension broke when Dib coughed and put his chair back on all four legs. Zim sighed. He shifted his weight and remembered the UVCDs in his pocket. He reached for them and slid them across the table. Dib arched an eyebrow. Zim was the first to speak. "I think someone has tampered with our signal. They need to be fixed." "D'you thin Tak…" Dib's voice trailed off at the arrogant spark in Zim's eyes. Dib had been wondering when Zim's uncharacteristic icy calm would be broken. Zim snarled as he nodded curtly. He took the UVCDs over to a counter across the room. Dib suddenly remembered what he had wanted to tell Zim before Gir's taco mess.

"Hmm…Zim…" He began. "What?" Zim asked a little irritably. "I might have made a mistake." Dib said as he shifted his weight uncomfortably. Zim slammed the tool he was using on the counter. He whipped around, eyes blazing with fury. "Are you trying to tell me Tak's not here?" He growled, extending his PAK legs. "Wait, WAIT!" Dib sank back in his chair. "No! Sh- she's defiantly here!" He was starting to sweat. He didn't really trust Zim with their fragile truce, his explosive temper and the murderous look he was giving Dib. "She-I... I went into…Tak's ship is gone! I think she took it from my house! She didn't have a new ship! That's all!" Zim gave him a distrusting look. He growled, retracted his PAK legs and returned to tinkering with the UVCDs.

It was a good 10 minutes before either of them said anything again. Zim had put the fixed UVCD on the table and Dib reattached it to his wrist. He handed Zim the key bit again. Now Dib had to wait for his clothes to come out of the dryer. He sat across the table they stared awkwardly at each other. Dib scratched his neck, if only to relax the tension. Zim looked like he wanted to say something. His eye twitched and a blank look crossed his face as though he forgot what it was. He had done this at least 4 times since had sat down. He opened his mouth and sighed in annoyance as the computer beeped and a red light flashed. Zim leapt up. "wha-" Dib had barley formed half of the word when he was interrupted by Zim yelling "It's Tak! We have to get upstairs." They both took off for the elevator.

They came out in the living room to find Gir in the clutch of an over sized SIR unit hand."Hai Guys!" He called, waving. Dib was speechless. "MIMI!" he choked out. Neither Dib nor Zim had expected Tak to be ready to challenge them so early. The door was open behind her. Dib could recognize Tak's ship at the end of the sidewalk. "What do we do?" Dib looked at Zim. He was leaning back, eyes wide and mouth open. "Run?" Dib prompted. Zim whipped around to face him, an arrogant snarl forming on his lips when the whole front wall of the living room exploded. Tak stood on the lawn, a satisfied smirk spread on her face. "TAK!" Zim screamed. "THE WALL WENT BOOM!" Shrieked Gir. The two Irkens locked eyes and stood glaring at each other for a full minute before Dib spoke. "Um…what was the point of that?" Maroon and violet eyes glared at him. "I mean...the door was open. Suddenly an amused smile spread across Tak's mouth.

"How do they not fit you properly?" She giggled. Dib assumed she meant his clothes. He blushed. Gir began laughing for no reason. Zim shouted something in Irken. Tak stopped giggling and looked at Zim. "What's wrong, Zim?" Tak challenged."Afraid to be embarrassed? You know you're the same size, right?" She snickered and looked at Dib. "He said he lent you his clothes because he didn't want awkwardness." She smirked. Zim shouted in Irken again. "Wow, Zim. That's pretty violent." She looked sarcastic. Zim leapt at Tak and they wrestled on the floor. Zim's PAK legs extended. Tak did the same. There was a horrible metallic clashing sound.

Dib made his way over to where the robots were standing. Mimi looked a little irritated, if that was possible. Gir looked irrelevantly happy as usual. Tak and Zim were both screaming in Irken. "What are they saying?" Dib asked. Gir shrugged and grinned."My piggy?" He asked with his head on the side. "Yeah, Gir. It's uh…in the laundry room." Dib sighed. Gir wriggled free from MIMIs hand and ran off. MIMI, to Dib's surprise didn't move, just let her arm drop to her side. She looked bored.

Dib turned his attention back to the tussle on the floor. Suddenly Tak kicked Zim hard. He flew across the room and hit the wall hard. "MIMI! Come!" She snapped. "We'll deal with you another time, ZIM!" She spat Zim's name like a curse. Her ship was in the air, hovering above the hole. She entered through a hole in the bottom, followed by Mimi. "That was weird."Said Dib as he walked over to where Zim knelt on the floor with a hand grasping his shoulder. Zim's PAK legs had retracted when he hit the wall. He grunted. Dib extended a hand to help him up. Zim looked up at him. "Are you all right?" Dib asked. Zim groaned a little. He lifted the hand that was over his shoulder. His shirt was slashed and there was a deep cut across his arm that almost reached where his spine would be. Dib had no idea if Zim had a spine. The cut oozed green liquid a lighter shade of green then his skin. Was that what Irken blood looked like? Dib had always felt nauseous around blood and gore. The sight of Zim's green goo was too much for him and he passed out on the floor.

"Useless." Muttered Zim. "GIR! Fetch me the bandages!" He was answered by "Okie Dokie!" From the laundry room. Gir appeared a moment later with a roll of bandages. Zim quickly began to apply them over his wound. "Stupid Tak and her stupid head of…Ffilth!" He growled. He muttered insults and curses about Tak. "COMPUTER! REPAIR THE WALL!" He commanded. The wall began to pull itself together with no response from computer. Zim could care less. He looked at his hand. It was stained dark green. He poked Dib. Dib didn't stir. He was still breathing though. That was good. "What do we do with him?" Zim wondered out loud to no one in particular. Gir shrugged and pulled a squeaky piggy toy from his head.

The hole in the wall had already disappeared, but Zim could tell it wasn't strong. He stood next to Dib. "Elevator!"

Dib woke up on something hard and metallic. For a second he thought he had passed out on the floor of his dad's lab. He opened his eyes and remembered what happened. He looked around. Zim was at a computer screen, typing. Dib was lying on a table in the center of a lab in Zim's basement. It looked like an experiment table. "Hnn…wha-?" He grunted. He was wearing his own clothes again. Zim turned around. "Dib-monk… Dib, you're awake." Zim corrected himself quickly. He had a bandage wrapped around his shoulder where he had been cut. "How long was I out?" Dib asked, sitting up. He felt stiff. "About an hour." Zim sounded casual. They may as well have been discussing the weather. Dib gasped. "Gaz and dad are going to be worrying about me. Well, maybe dad. And I'm not sure I'd call it worrying…" Dib mused. Zim waved a hand dismissively."'Bye." He said. Dib waved and made off toward the elevator.


	4. Dissection Day

Chapter 4

Dissection Day

It was Friday, the last day of Zim's detentions with Ms. Bitters. Zim and Dib had taken to walking to school together over the past week. Partly because they figured they had a better chance of not being attacked by Tak if they were together and partly because…Dib could barley bring himself to think it…they were almost…friends? At the very least they were allies. That was a thought Dib was much more comfortable with. At least for now.

They walked into class side by side. The desks were pushed into two groups of four rows one group on either side of the room. The children were seated in pairs, two pairs per row. Dib groaned. "Dissection day." Zim looked at him with some sort of sick interest. "Dissection?" He said it like a question. "Of what?" He cocked his head as they sat down in the back row closest to the window. "Frogs. Ms. Bitters mentioned it on Wednesday. Don't you remember?" Zim hadn't really been paying attention in school ever since Tak attacked them in his base.

Ms. Bitters had drawn a diagram of a frog on the black board with the right way to do an incision. She began passing out the frogs from a metal bucket. "Put on your goggles." She directed. There were three boxes on the table in front of Dib. One had instruments for the dissection; the other two had goggles in them. Dib opened the left-most box and pulled them on over his normal glasses. Zim copied him. His purple eyes would have looked almost funny behind the clear plastic if Dib hadn't felt so nauseous. He was so nervous. He couldn't stand the thought of gore and blood, much less be exposed to it. He helped Zim pin the frog to the tray, but refused to do anything further. Not that Zim cared, that meant he could do the dissection on his own.

Dib watched Zim make the incision in the first layer of skin. He felt sick. As Zim lowered the scalpel through the pale skin underneath, Dib's vision began to swim. He didn't want to see the rest, but couldn't look away. He forced himself to close his eyes. The feeling passed. He sighed a little. He felt Zim's gaze on him. "What's wrong, Dib?" Was he mocking him? He almost sounded sincere, but his voice sounded mostly smug. Dib shook his head. He decided to treat it as though Zim were being sincere. "I'm okay. You- You go ahead and finish." He said. "Woah!" Yelled some kid just in front of him. Dib automatically opened his eyes just in time to see the esophagus of his own frog fill with air for the last time and inflate like a balloon. He saw Zim's face twist into a sort of disturbing grin then Dib's eyes rolled back into his head. The last thing he heard was Zim begin a sentence. "Dib" And then nothing.

"Dib are you…" Zim never finished his sentence. He watched the human flop backwards in his chair and pass out. The chair tipped up on two legs and Dib landed hard on the ground. His unconscious body lay spread on the floor with his legs still over his chair. "Ms. Bitters!" Some child called. Zim watched silently as some human in a white coat. The nurse? Came and took Dib out of the room. "Continue you're work, Children!" Ms. Bitters announced.

Dib woke up in the nurse's office. He sat up. He was alone in the white room lying on a cot. Suddenly the door opened. "Oh! You're awake!" The nurse sounded happily surprised. "Uh, Yeah." Said Dib. "How long…" He didn't finish his question. "About three hours." The nurse told him. Dib blinked in surprise. He couldn't remember the last time he had been passed out for so long. "Its lunch time now, but I wouldn't recommend eating for a while." She said and walked out. She paused just before she left. "Oh, you can go now." She said. Dib jumped off the cot and left the office.

Dib walked down the hallway unsteadily. He wondered if Zim would care that he was awake. Then suddenly Torque and his friends came around the corner laughing and shoving each other. "Neanderthals." Muttered Dib, rolling his eyes as they walked past. "What was that _loser_?" Torque snapped."Leave me alone, Torque." Dib grumbled. "Hey worm! Can't even keep conscious around a little gore, huh?" Taunted Torque's friend. "Hey, yeah! I wonder if he'll do as well in a toilet!" Torque smirked when Dib shrank back against the wall. "Swirly! Swirly! SWIRLY!" Chanted Torque's friends behind him. "Aw, come on Torque!" Dib secretly hoped something would happen to distract the bullies. Like Zim coming around the corner and challenging Torque. Or the principal would come through the door. Or even Gaz might be right behind him and feeling nice today. But no such miracle happened and Dib was dragged off against his will to the boys room.

Dib screamed as he was dunked head-first into the toilet and it was flushed. Dib bit his lip to keep himself from screeching in pain as his scythe hair was sucked down the tubes and tore at his scalp. Torque's friends shoved him back in such an awkward position that he couldn't even put his feet on the floor. When the water settled it was up to his eyebrows. His glasses had been swept off his face and were drifting in front of him. He had eventually stopped kicking his legs and struggling after about ten minutes.

Dib had been upside down in the smelly water for about a quarter of an hour before he finally felt someone pulling his legs back to the ground. Someone grabbed his collar. Dib expected to see the principal or a teacher judging from the angle he was being pulled at. But he looked up to see Zim retracting his Pak legs. He managed a weak smile at the invader. "Thanks." He mumbled. Zim smirked but didn't say anything. He simply shoved Dib in the direction of the sinks. He took some paper towels and wrung out his hair scythe and wiped his face."You're welcome, Dib." Zim said from behind him. Dib turned around. Zim was leaning against the stall just beyond the angle of the mirror. Dib's glasses were dangling from one finger. He handed them to Dib. "Er, thanks." He muttered awkwardly. He put them on and blinked. Hi eyes had more or less adjusted to being without them for a while. Dib could feel himself blush a little. He was embarrassed to have needed Zim to come get him. Dib ran some water and began washing his hair. He managed to rinse it and scrub a little soap into it, so at least it didn't smell like toilet water anymore. He even managed to dry it in a position more or less like his scythe. All the while Zim watched silently leaning against the toilet stall smirking. When the bell rang Dib straightened up from washing his glasses. "That'll have to do." He sighed. He would have to do a more thorough job at home. "Come on." Zim was already at the door. Surprisingly, he was waiting for Dib.

Dib sat down in his desk. Someone had rearranged the desks back to normal. The class filed in. When the bell rang again for class to begin, Ms. Bitters got up and wrote on the board 'Paranormal Studies'. Dib grinned. Maybe this day would turn around. "Class, for reasons unknown to me, the school board insists we must do something 'about our community'. I want you to team up with a partner and find something "strange" about our town. Some sort of rumor. Research it and investigate it. You're presentations are due next Monday." She said and gloomily slumped back into her chair. The room burst into commotion. Children ran around the room trying to find a partner.

Dib glanced across the room at Zim. He was met by the alien's gaze. Dib sighed and stood up. He picked up his chair and clumsily carried in front of the class across to Zim's desk. He sat down and looked over at the Irken. "Okay, so we need something supernatural." Said Dib. Zim raised an eyebrow. "I mean besides you." Dib sighed. "There's this alley where people have claimed that they've seen a ghost. I've researched this. But I haven't found any tangible proof so far." Zim looked at him. "Okay." Dib pulled out a notebook and showed Zim a page with the words "Mystery #7: The Haunted alleyway" Scribbled at the top. There was a short list with two items; "A garbage can that moves, = Just a cat/ dog?" And "Wobbly fence post when there's no wind." Dib unfolded a photograph that was folded up at the bottom of the page. It was a blurry image of a fence with a faint white wisp in the general shape of a person. "We can go there after school today, I suppose." Dib mused. Zim nodded. "Alright I guess." Zim was uncharacteristically calm and accepting again. Dib wondered for at least the third time that day about that.

After school that day, Dib was dangling from the window sill again. He pulled himself up to the pane to look inside and a spider crawled over his fingers. "Ack!" Dib dropped to the ground in surprise. He turned around Gir had taken to waiting with him. "Dibby, Dibby, Dibby, Dibby!" He chanted from where he sat on the ground a few feet from the window. Dib sighed and watched Gir run in circles for a while. How could Zim stand living with him? He heard the school doors open and came around to the front. "C'mon, Gir!" He called. Gir ran across the grass to meet his master, chanting nonsense about tacos. Dib rolled his eyes. "How was detention?" Dib asked teasingly. "Shut up!" Snapped Zim. Dib snickered. "GIR! Go home! The Dib and I have some work to do!" "Okie dokie!" Shrieked Gir and took off flying through the air. "Nothing conspicuous about _that_." Dib muttered sarcastically. "Come on, Dib-monkey." Zim began off towards the back alley."Just call me Dib! D- I- B! DIB!" He yelled as he followed the alien.

Dib practically bounded down the alley way. He was so excited to share a paranormal investigation with someone, even if that someone happened to be a paranormal phenomenon himself. Zim, on the other hand looked utterly bored as he trailed behind his human companion with his hands in his pockets. Dib was carrying a radar device that could track specters as they appeared. Zim had taken his contact lenses off because they were scratchy, and the alley was more or less a private place. But he left his wig on. If someone came out of their house, Zim would shut his eyes. The sun was beginning to set when Dib said, "Uh, hey Zim?" "Yes?" Dib turned around. Zim's red eyes looked a little creepy in the faint shadows. "D-Do you like cats?" "What?" Asked Zim. "Cats." Said Dib. Zim started to walk again, but Dib stayed where he was, trying to make it clear he wasn't just making conversation. "Because…I probably should have mentioned this before…"Dib shuffled his feet awkwardly. "But there's this cat stray cat that lives around here. She's really mean and there's something strange about her." Zim squinted one eye. "Strange like how?" Dib ignored him. "Only a few have clearly seen her. She does this thing where she runs up to you, barely visible, scratches you from the elbow to the wrist and runs off. The victim usually suffers a horribly violent swing of anger for no apparent reason." Zim looked at his arm. Dib turned around and started walking again. Zim followed after a moment's hesitation. "Her name's Nightbird." Dib continued. "Because no one's seen her during the day, and when they do see her she's swooping around like some majestic raven or something." Zim looked up from his arm. Dib glanced over his shoulder and their eyes met. Dib turned around after a brief moment. "She's black with a blonde stripe and yellow eyes, just so you know." Zim nodded. "she's really mean, so if you see her, run." Zim nodded but Dib didn't see.

Dib tripped over a box. "Ow." He muttered on the ground. He rolled up his pant leg. His knee was bleeding. He grunted and leaned over it. He looked up to see Zim watching him with something like concern. "I'll be fine." Dib muttered, rolling his pant leg down. "It's just a scratch." Then the Irken did something unexpected. He extended a three-fingered hand and Dib grasped it. Zim wrapped his fingers around Dib's wrist firmly and he was jerked to his feet. "Thanks."Dib said, brushing himself off. Zim shrugged and turned around. "Are we near the site yet?"He asked. "Close, but I'm not picking anything up on the radar." Dib glanced down at the silver device. He fiddled with the antennae a little. "Still nothing." He sighed. "Give me that." Snapped Zim, snatching the device from Dib. "But It's very complex! It took me…" Zim silenced him with an arrogant glance. He opened the back and messed with some wires. He put the back on again flipped the radar and looked at the screen for a minute. He moved it around and stared it. Then he grinned and let out a snort of laughter. "There's nothing wrong with it, Dib." He laughed. "There's just nothing here." Dib's face fell. "We may as well go home, I guess." He said. "Not quite yet, Dib-th…Dib. I have to show you something at the base." He said, beginning to put his contacts back in as he led the way out of the alleyway.

Zim opened the door and motioned for Dib to enter. "Thanks I…" Dib started as he turned around. "Zim!" He said. He was a little scared at what he saw. Zim turned around and his breath caught in his throat. Dib gasped. "Nightbird!"


End file.
